Zen

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ZEN - PAGE 2

NEW DELHI: Maruti Udyog Limited is planning a facelift of its B segment model, Zen. Among the options being considered is a higher capacity 1.3 litre engine. According to sources, Maruti may also look at a design facelift without changing the current one litre engine. The move has been necessiated as the Zen has now become a rather old model and some sort of revamp is considered necessary to keep the consumer interest high. In addition, Maruti has been losing serious market share in the B segment with the Tata Indica, Hyundai Santro and Fiat Palio posting strong volumes.

The rest of the world has been dithering over rebuilding the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, but BJP president Rajnath Singh remains cleareyed on the subject: a view he had first expressed when he was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Given the competing priorities of his party when it comes to the rebuilding of destroyed monuments and the sentiments such intentions arouse in Mr Singh's home state, his offer seems rather grandiose. Also, reiterating it in Washington DC in a speech on Afghanistan just as US is preparing to withdraw is even more curious, especially as he wants the ersatz Buddhas to be built not in their original niche in the Hindu Kush, but in Kushinagar â€" some 2,000 km to the east.

BANGALORE: Suzuki, the Japanese auto-maker, plans to make Maruti Udyog Ltd its research and development hub for Asia excluding Japan by 2007, a top MUL official said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters at the launch of new Zen model here, Arvind Saxena, General Manager (Sales), MUL, said the R and D team's current strength of 30 would be doubled by 2007. He said the new Zen represented MUL's inhouse competence to do full face-lift of a car. The new look Zen was expected to boost the sales - currently about 5,000 units a month - by 10 to 15 per cent, he said

The un informed visitor at Googleplex may find himself perplexed when he sees the presentation room filled with techies perched in half-lotus position, meditating. His confusion is justified since it is hard to imagine that the corporation that prides itself in thinking ahead of tomorrow is now looking back at centuries-old traditions to bring out the best in its employees. Google is embracing Buddhist meditative practices in a big way. Zen masters and monks routinely tour the campus, the company has instituted self-awareness courses like Search Inside Yourself, Neural Self-Hacking and Managing Your Energy, designed to teach people to manage their emotions through meditation, and Googlers are signing up for these classes in droves.

NEW DELHI: After yesterday's price hike of Rs 2000-3000 on its existing Euro II models, car marketleader Maruti has launched Euro III variants of three models (Zen, WagonR and Baleno) at a tag increase of Rs 10,000-15,000. Speaking on the sidelines of a SIAM safety conference, Maruti MD Jagdish Khattar said: We are introducing Euro III variants of our models in phases going up to April. The price increase is due to higher cost of raw materials, technology upgradation to Euro III levels and more expensive components.

BANGALORE: Even though February may have seen a low decibel number game from car sales, motown witnessed some shakeout in its best seller list across segments. While Alto (12,177 units) has more or less assumed the mantle of top selling car from Maruti 800 for some time now, the latter also took a beating from Tata Indica (9,152 units) which has leapt to the second place, changing the hierarchy further. Shahrukh Khan's favourite Hyundai Santro has slipped to the fifth slot in the top 10 list of car sales, pipped by Wagon R (7,088 units)

JAIPUR: Maruti Udyog Ltd had been selling 2,000 cars per month in Rajasthan, thus securing about 60 per cent of the state's market for four wheelers, General Manager (new business) R S Kalsi said on Saturday. Launching a new model of 'Zen' here, Kalsi told a press conference that the average sales growth was around 16 per cent ever year. He said the new model would come at the same price as the old one. For the first time ever, the entire styling and design of the model had been done in India, he said.

Zen often says that all instruction is but a finger pointing to the moon and those whose gaze is fixed upon the pointer will never see beyond. ("Even let them catch sight of the moon, and still they cannot see its beauty. ") It's another way of saying that the teaching is not the truth but merely an indicator towards it. In fact, Zen sums it up even better when it says: "A special transmission outside the scriptures; no dependence upon words and letters; direct pointing at the soul of man; seeing into one's nature and attainment of Buddhahood.

In face of increasing competition in the C-segment, Maruti Udyog has unveiled the first loyalty programme in the passenger car industry. Existing Maruti car-owners are being offered a cash discount up to Rs 25,000, plus a free insurance worth Rs 19,000 if they exchange their old vehicle for a new Maruti Esteem, reports a business newspaper. Besides the cash bonus and free insurance, the buyer may also get more benefit through discounts offered by dealers. The offer is being doled out by Maruti True Value, the company's new venture which trades in old cars in select cities.